Mangia! Experience Harvest to Table Cooking Classes in Italy at Cucina Della Terra
June 10-17, 2012 or July 8-15, 2012
Join ICE Chef-Instructor Gerri Sarnataro for a truly authentic cooking experience that blends cuisine and culture at Cucina Della Terra in the beautiful Italian countryside setting of Umbria. During these seven-day trips, you'll journey throughout the region and learn Italian cooking techniques. As you meander through carefully selected picturesque towns such as Montepuliciano, Pienza, Siena, and Castiglione del Lago, you'll have the opportunity to sample many of the local ingredients that have world-class status. As you overlook the scenic Val d'Orcia, you'll sip the region's renowned wines at a family-owned winery. Visiting a sheep farm and production facility you'll see firsthand the making and aging of the finest Tuscan pecorino cheeses. You'll live like a local and peruse the open-air markets of Castiglione del Lago to collect the day's ingredients and cook them in the cucina. You'll also discover the secrets behind the production of Umbria's fresh water fish and prepare them later. In addition, you'll participate in a Bruschette Festa. This trip not only uncovers the methods and traditions of preparing the treasures of the Umbrian land and sea, but also provides a multidimensional culinary experience that exposes you to all the aspects of local life from understanding ingredients and how they are sourced to preparing traditional dishes. Every day involves cooking with locally grown ingredients-including vegetables and herbs from the school's garden-in a state-of-the-art kitchen. Cucina Della Terra is a premier international culinary education program that completely immerses you in the culture so you get the breadth and depth of knowledge you need to incorporate demonstrated techniques-and understand the fundamentals behind them-and then be able to apply them in your own kitchen. You'll come away inspired to create wonderful Italian delicacies while adding a modern twist or adapting the recipes at home. Join Chef Gerri on an excursion of a lifetime and gain a deeper understanding of Italian food, culture, and cooking techniques that you'll continue to use in your culinary repertoire.

Learn more here or contact Chef Gerri at Gerri@cucinadellaterra.com

La Dolce Sweet Vita! Learn to bake contemporary Italian desserts in Italy at Cucina Della Terra
June 24 – July 1, 2012
Join ICE Chef-Instructor Gerri Sarnataro and Guest Chef Vicki Wells, former executive pastry chef for Bobby Flay's restaurant empire, in an exclusive program at Cucina DellaTerra that focuses on contemporary Italian desserts.

On this excursion, you'll tour the region and visit picturesque towns such as Montefalco and Bevagna. After a walk through the city of Perugia, you'll go inside the Perugina Chocolate company to see how the famous Baci confections are created and return to the cucina for a night of baking an assortment of Italian desserts and pastries. You'll live like a local and peruse the open-air markets of Castiglione del Lago to collect the day's ingredients and prepare the evening's menu. After a day of shopping and tasting the renowned wines of Orvieto, you'll return to the cucina for a class on making pasta for savory and sweet dishes. Throughout the week, you'll sample many of the local world-class ingredients while meeting the vintners, butchers, shopkeepers, and more, so you gain insight into how ingredients are sourced and used to prepare traditional dishes. Other activities include participating in a Bruschette Festa, discovering how gelato is made, and learning the methods of making pecorino and ricotta cheeses firsthand—and taking some home to bake desserts.

Set in the beautiful Italian countryside setting of Umbria, Cucina Della Terra offers a truly multidimensional experience that blends cuisine and culture. Using the best local ingredients, you'll work in a state-of-the-art cucina where you'll enjoy delicious meals while tasting and discovering the complexities of fine Tuscan and Umbrian wines.

As a premier international culinary education program, you'll gain the breadth and depth of knowledge you need to understand the fundamentals behind demonstrated techniques so you can apply them in your own kitchen. You'll leave Umbria with the inspiration to create wonderful Italian desserts while adding a modern twist or adapting the recipes for home use.

Join Chefs Gerri and Vicki on an excursion of a lifetime and gain a deeper understanding of Italian food, culture, and baking techniques that you'll continue to use in your culinary repertoire. Learn more here or contact Chef Gerri at Gerri@cucinadellaterra.com

ICE 2013 Cuisine Course in France
April 30 – May 10, 2013
Join Chef Kathryn (full-time Pastry & Baking instructor at ICE and co-author of Les Petits Macarons, Colorful French Confections to Make at Home) to work hands-on with a variety of professional chefs, pastry chefs and bakers in the "Garden of France" (the area in the western Loire Valley responsible for much of France's agricultural production and wine). This is a unique opportunity to learn from multiple chefs (including fine dining, country regional and family style cuisine) in a variety of locales, including state-of-the-art restaurant kitchens, professional patisseries, and artisan boulangeries. No need to speak French; all classes are translated or taught in English. You will stay in a beautiful country inn, Le Moulin Bregeon, converted from a wheat mill (and filled with antiques—you sleep on hand-ironed French linens). All sightseeing is culinary-related and selected for educational purposes (including nut oils, cheese production, foie gras farm, mushroom caves, salt marshes, farm markets, and liqueur and wine tastings).

Click here for application information.
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